Category Archives: Random stuff

Not adventures :)

Jul31

Christmas in Slovenia – Hiša Franko

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Christmas 2025 saw us on an Adventure – Andrea’s friend was working at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Slovenia, Hiša Franko, and we had the opportunity to join her for a dinner and some adventuring. We jumped at the chance, hopping a flight into Northern Italy before the drive out into Slovenia itself… with a few exciting adventures along the way.


Thursday, 25-Dec-2025

We get to the culmination of the adventure. The reason we flew out, the restaurant that drew Andrea’s friend, and sparked this entire adventure. Hiša Franko!

Three Michelin stars. Featuring in the “top 50 best restaurants in the world” consistently since 2017.

Yeah, it’s a little bit fancy.



So are we, though, and thanks to Andrea’s tutelage I felt… well, not confident? But prepared, at least.
We’re fancy, and I felt ready to experience something one-of-a-kind.

And let me tell you, dear readers, that meal was one-of-a-kind.

It’s different than any restaurant I’d experienced before. To be totally honest, I’m not convinced that I’d want to go back… but I am convinced that I’ll always be thankful that I got to try it out. It was a different type of dining – not just eating good food, but tasting interesting things. Tasting my way through a story would be the closest description, I think?

Yeah. Tasting my way through a story.

Each dish was brought out by one of the chefs, in an almost ritualistic manner. The servers aligned themselves, and the two servers put our plates down in perfect synchronicity. Drinks were similarly aligned, as if putting them down was part of an arcane ritual, where cutlery placement mattered to the tenth of an inch.

The chef came out, as mentioned, explaining each dish and the ingredients associated. Explaining the how and the why, alongside the origin of the ingredients.

Then we tasted something. Something small – but filling enough that we weren’t ever either hungry or full.

We tasted things for nearly two hours. Paired kombucha, selected wine, everything meticulous.

And then, at the end of the meal and after the dessert, we were offered a tour. A tour of the restaurant, of the kitchen, of the wine cellar, and of the cheese cellar. We met the owner and sommelier, Valter, and got to gawk at the sheer scale of the operation. Dozens of chefs and assistants, all working to make food for a restaurant hosting maybe 20 people an evening.

It really was amazing, impressive, and intense.

Jul30

Christmas in Slovenia – The River Soča

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Christmas 2025 saw us on an Adventure – Andrea’s friend was working at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Slovenia, Hiša Franko, and we had the opportunity to join her for a dinner and some adventuring. We jumped at the chance, hopping a flight into Northern Italy before the drive out into Slovenia itself… with a few exciting adventures along the way.

25-December-2025

Christmas day was spent recovering from the amazing meal we’d gorged ourselves on the evening before – a bit of walking, a bit of relaxing, and a bit of good (but sometimes tough) conversation about the future, our lives, and everything in between.

And let me tell you – we had some good views for that conversation.

The mountains of Slovenia. The River Soča (Pronounced Socha). Soaring peaks. Bright blue water. Beautiful canyons, and one rather impressive waterfall. And then, an absolutely stunning drive home through the trees and sunset…

Jul23

Visiting the tombs at Winter Solstice

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Wednesday, 17-Dec-2025

Okay so it’s not technically the winter solstice. But it’s close!

I really enjoy observing holidays and festivals – whenever there’s the reasonable opportunity, it just feels fun. Connecting to something bigger than ourselves, aligning with the natural rhythm of the world… I appreciate the structure of it all.

This year, my friend Megan and I took the Solstice as a reason to explore some of the many pieces of ancient Irish history dotted around the country. Or at least, dotted around our specific area of the country.

Our adventure went a little bit like this:

We started at the Proleek Dolmen and Wedge tombs – neat little mini tombs, set on a golf course. Access was free, but felt a little bit like an afterthought… They were very cool, though, and I took the chance to fly the drone around the area a bit in the morning light.

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After Proleek (and a vain search for a supposedly fairy fort nearby) we headed onward toward the big one, The Newgrange Tomb Complex.

This is easily one of the biggest in the country – a huge tomb complex, with a whole visitors center and experience associated with it. Frankly, though, it felt a little… performative, maybe? I mean, don’t get me wrong! The tomb itself was cool, and the displays in the visitors center were good… but it felt poorly cared for, and almost like it had been built once, and then forgotten? It didn’t help that the folks at the visitors center made us buy a second set of tickets because we were 5min late for ours (the tickets are for 30min intervals, and there was absolutely no one there aside from ourselves)… but still.

Getting to go into the tomb was amazing, and the guides at the tomb itself were excellent. So that helped make up for it quite a bit.


Now, Newgrange is technically the whole complex, made up of Newgrange itself, Dowth, and Knowth. All of which are also known, traditionally, as Brú na Bóinne, or “Mansion of the Boyne”, since they’re right on the river Boyne.

The visitors center only controls Newgrange, it seems, with Knowth being closed to the public and Dowth being open for people to drive to and stand near on their own. So clearly, our next stop was Dowth.

We couldn’t go into the tomb, of course, since it’s just a walking thing (and I think privately owned? Maybe? It feels like these things are rather complicated, here in Ireland), but I absolutely adored the area and the views. Just the quiet serenity, really.


After Dowth, we headed South (hah, rhyming…) toward the Hill of Tara – an ancient meeting ground for the kings of the Irish clans. We grabbed a bite to eat at the nearby cafe, and walked around a bit exploring the area.

To be frank, this one was more than a bit disappointing. I mean, it’s this hugely significant historic area, and… there really wasn’t anything there. I mean, some hills and a standing stone? Some (very small) placards? A beautiful view of the sunset was nice, but then the herd of sheep grazing (and leaving landmines) to add complexity to the walk… I don’t know. I think I’m spoiled from the US, but I had hoped for a… I don’t know, maybe a walk? A map at the start, with a suggested path including placards and signposts focused on cultural preservation?

Well, the sunset was pretty.


From here, we’d planned on hitting two other tombs… but unfortunately sunlight wasn’t with us, and closing hours for the spots were fast approaching. The risks of Winter Solstice, coming through.

We headed for home.

We passed the Hellfire club, though unfortunately it was already closed by the time we arrived, and so we continued on toward dinner – a lovely Indian restaurant in Dalkey, as a beautiful end point to a lovely day of adventure.